Gear
Tech tools for living life
I've had Sonos soundbars in my house for over a decade now. One feature I always have switched on is 'Speech Enhancement'. It never makes a show or movie worse. It always makes dialogue that little bit easier to hear. Now Sonos has announced it worked with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People in the UK to design even better Speech enhancement, offering Low, Medium, High, and Max options. They've added some machine learning to help extract the speech so they can juice just that part of the audio mix more to really help pull it out of the wider dynamics.
The new Speech Enhancement is available for the Arc Ultra now through a software update. Here's hoping owners of previous soundbars might see some of this trickle down in future? Fingers crossed.
The 2025 Lego F1 kits give us something for every fan
Lego sets can be very expensive, but the F1 series this year offers options at prices every fan can afford.
Byteside gift guide 2024: fun, weird, wonderful, nerdy gift ideas
Lets skip the obvious and explore some clever ideas, shall we?
Google Pixel 9 series: what a leap forward... but wait for the 10 if you can
Google has achieved 100% 'flagship' credentials with the Pixel 9 Pro and Pixel 9 Pro Fold. This is the place to spend your money on Android... but the missing feature that should arrive in 2025 is worth waiting for.
Oclean X Ultra S is a very clever portable electric toothbrush
App-enabled smart brushing is great, but even if you never use the app this is an excellent brush for regular travellers who want to teeth.
Sennheiser Momentum Sport review: seriously smart earbuds
With added heart rate tracking in these earbuds, Sennheiser makes them far more valuable for the money if that's a feature that hits your fitness needs.
DJI Power 500 review: sneaky power for tech nerd camping trips
A beautifully designed power station with plenty of power to keep your devices running for extended stays away from home.
Shokz OpenRun Pro: the ideal sports headphone experience
Earbuds are doing transparency modes well these days, but nothing does full awareness of the world around you better than bone conduction.
Espresso displays: hitting the sweet spot for portable displays
The Australian startup has designed top quality hardware that is perfect for those who really want two screens wherever they may work.
Sonos Ace: excellent headphones for Sonos devotees
For a debut set of headphones, Sonos has leapt to the top-tier consumer range alongside Sony. If you own a Sonos soundbar, it's a particularly attractive option.
HTC Vive XR Elite: How far have we come?
HTC's latest is another big leap forward for VR fans, but why is it still not enough for everyone else?
Projectors get smart and simple: Checking out the new Hisense laser projector range shows just how much easier owning a projector gets these days. With two short throw options, PX2-Pro and PL1H, to suit subtle differences in needs plus a long range option, the C1, the way they run and the features they offer make for a fast trip from unboxing to watching whatever you want.
Crispy colours, Dolby Atmos (both pictures and audio), Game Modes for gamers, and full smart TV features so all your streaming apps are built in and you can be having a good time without plugging any other devices into this one (but of course you can if you want to)? It's a good time to explore projection if it's never been on your radar before.
Long-awaited Sonos headphones arrive in June
The multiroom speaker specialists have finally announced the one thing missing from the line up: headphones to Sonos everywhere you go.
6TB portable drives are now a thing: Western Digital just bumped its 2.5-inch drives up to a new record 6TB storage. Just wild how much fits into such a small package now. This is popping up across their portable drive range now, fro My Passport to game drives to G-DRIVE rugged options. A WD My Passport 6TB drive is just $299. They'll also have the WD_BLACK drive for adding 6TB of storage to game consoles. It's TBC on pricing.
The copper colour option in the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 earbud range is stunning! Sennheiser does these earbuds really well at this point, with full adaptive noise cancelling using a six-microphone array that also delivers excellent voice pick up for calls. The tech is solid, the battery life is great, and I'm just loving that copper colour. Yum. ($499)
I've used Withings smart scales for many years now, and it's been great for my personal health management. The latest and greatest Body Scan scale costs $799, but it includes a new electrocardiogram bar you lift up to get far more detail on your health status than ever. If this seems too much, there's lots of cheaper options from Withings that still deliver the fundamentals of sending your data direct to online tracking services.
Google Pixel 8a review: full featured AI power for everyone
The Pixel 8a can go toe-to-toe with the Pixel Pro as well as the best from Samsung and Apple. Google's AI software might now push its hardware into the lead for most users.
Belkin Auto-Tracking Stand Pro with DockKit is next level hands free video utility
Belkin just dropped the most versatile auto tracking system for iPhones ever to hit the market. Simple, instant, and works the way you want it to.
The big 2024 iPad line up refresh is here
Apple drops the M4 processor into iPad Pro before anything else, plus an all-new Apple Pencil, new iPad Air, and a price drop on the base iPad. A big day for the tablet.
Is the 'a' for AI now? Google has revealed the Pixel 8a today and the big push is on the role of AI in our devices. Given the a series for Pixel typically offers a lot of the benefits of the fancier models at a better price, this year there's a firm focus on how big a role Google's Gemini AI will play in your photos, videos, and generally getting things done.
Nice wins include getting the same G3 chip here that you get in the Pixel 8 Pro, and a promise of seven years of feature and security updates. That's 2030! Starts from $849 and pre-orders are now open for May 14 release.
